Figures from a classified Israeli military intelligence database indicate five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been civilians, an extreme rate of slaughter rarely matched in recent decades of warfare.
That apparent ratio of civilians to combatants among the dead is extremely high for modern warfare, even compared with conflicts notorious for indiscriminate killing, including the Syrian and Sudanese civil wars. Civilians made up a greater proportion of the dead only in the Srebenica genocide – although not the Bosnian war overall – in the Rwandan genocide, and during the Russian siege of Mariupol.
The Israeli military did not dispute the existence of the database or dispute the data on Hamas and PIJ deaths when approached for comment. Multiple intelligence sources familiar with the database said the military viewed it as the only authoritative tally of militant casualties. The military also considers the Gaza health ministry toll reliable, and the former head of military intelligence appeared to cite it recently, even though Israeli politicians regularly dismiss the numbers as propaganda. Both databases may underestimate casualty numbers. The Gaza ministry of health lists only people whose bodies have been recovered, not the tens of thousands buried under rubble.
Israeli political and military leaders regularly use genocidal rhetoric. The general who led military intelligence when the war began has said 50 Palestinians must die for every person killed that day, adding that "it does not matter now if they are children." Aharon Haliva, who stepped down in April 2024, said mass killing in Gaza was "necessary" as a "message to future generations" of Palestinians, in recordings broadcast on Israeli TV this month. "From time to time, they need a Holocaust to feel the cost."
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